American film score composer John Williams has 47 Academy Award nominations to his name. That’s 47. No one has been nominated for more other than Walt Disney.

Of those 47 nominations he has won 5 for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (A New Hope) (1977), E.T. (1982), Schindlers List (1993)

In 2005, Williams’ score for Star Wars (A New Hope) was selected by the American Film Institute as the Greatest American movie score of all time.

The 6 years that passed between his nomination for Munich (2005) and The Adventures of Tintin/War Horse (2011) is the longest between nomination years since his first in 1967 (for Valley of the Dolls).

Although he wasn’t victorious this year, it’s still a hell of an achievement and I think it’s about time we celebrated it. Imagine the iconic movie scores (Superman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET, Jaws) being the most notable (notwithstanding Close Encounters’ Alien interaction theme, or even the classic Imperial March, which first appeared in Empire Strikes Back) that you have hummed in your head so many times, or sung at the top of your voice in the school playground. Amazing.

Hey, you may not have any of his scores on your ipod, but maybe you should. The scope of musical layers, themes and complexity is staggering.

If asked, which would you consider his 3 most iconic and memorable scores? Now there’s a toughie…..

I’m going to sign this off with a little controversy and suggest that, of all the amazing music in the Star Wars collection, Williams’ ‘Duel of the Fates’ from The Phantom Menace is his most epic. Combined with that, the lightsaber duels in this sequence of the film are the best of the lot.